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positivelygilly

As I type this, I am sitting in the airport with a 7 hour flight delay on my way back home from vacation.

For health reasons, I am transitioning to a grain free diet; therefore, I prepared myself with several snacks to avoid the limited options available for ‘healthy’ eating in an airport (in case of delays like this).

My list is not extensive as I am only a few days into grain free but here are a few ideas!

Larabars: These are actually so yummy and they have very few ingredients. There are several different flavors including Chocolate Chip Brownie, Banana Bread, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Peanut Butter Cookie, Cashew Cookie, Blueberry Muffin, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Carrot Cake, and many more.

KIND Bars: These are very tricky for me because most of them contain ‘crisp rice’ and ‘rice flour’ but Almond Walnut Macadamia, Almond Cashew with Flax, and Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate do NOT contain either. If I am viewing the ingredients correctly, they do not contain grain. They are all definitely gluten free, however.

Justin’s Honey Peanut Butter: I love Justin’s peanut butter, particularly the little travel packets. It’s so simple to throw a packet into your purse/backpack/gym bag to have with celery or crackers….

As many of you know, I was born in California and moved to Pennsylvania at the age of 10. I have spent half my life in CA and half my life in PA, which in itself is an amazing experience. I have had the privilege of experiencing both ‘cultures’ and, of course, very different climates.

Anyway, I decided to go back to California for college but struggled with being so far from home [Pennsylvania]. Several factors went into my homesickness: my boyfriend goes to college in Philadelphia, my parents (who I love spending time with) are in PA, my cozy room is in PA, my favorite restaurants are in PA… the list continues. However, I think every college student hits a point where they start calling their dorm room ‘home’ and that’s when you know things are okay.

I say this because I started referring to my school and my tiny dorm room as home. I remember experiencing this when I moved to PA; I never knew what to call our new house because I wasn’t used to it being home.

That being said, I began to realize that things are okay. When people asked, “Oh Gilly, how’s school?” I used to lie and say things were going well but truthfully I was struggling more than I wanted to let on. My automated response stated, “Well, it’s definitely an adjustment being away from home but things are going great!” I guess that wasn’t a lie, it WAS an adjustment being away from home, but I nearly felt like I was trying to convince myself that things were going okay….

If I’m being honest, I haven’t had a serious workout in about two weeks. Our definitions of ‘serious workout’ might be different, but I hate admitting that I’ve had more lazy days than productive ones.

Recently, however, I was reminded by one of my friends why I love to workout, and in particular, why I love running. I ran Cross Country my senior year of high school and loved it more than I thought I would. It was my outlet: a time to challenge myself and feel accomplishment when I pushed myself harder than ever before. I wasn’t the best on the team, but I loved how hard we all worked together to be a team.

Halfway through the season, I found out I had a stress fracture in my femur. Needless to say, my season was over. I was devastated particularly because I could hardly do any form of exercise until my leg healed.

My doctor told me I could swim once I was off crutches. The challenge was that swimming (obviously) isn’t running.

Flashback: On the first day of practice our Cross Country coach said to us, “Congratulations, you are officially runners and will be for the rest of your life”. I didn’t know what he meant until I could no longer run.

Near the end of the Cross Country season, I was cleared to run again.

My first day back it was cold and raining. My coach told me to run a lap around the track, walk a lap then repeat. So I did. My friend came out onto the track as I ran slow laps and asked me why I was running in the rain. I explained that I was running because I could.

1 scoop of peanut butter- I use Justin’s Honey Peanut Butter Blend. This was the first gluten free peanut butter I ever tried (now Jif is also gluten free) but I love the taste, plus they have numerous other ‘flavors’.

I think it’s safe to say that most college students would rather do laundry than eat at the school cafeteria.

You might be one of the lucky ones with great dining facilities, but eventually the options become boring. Cafeterias might have limited choices but you are more than capable of making your own dish with what’s available.

I will admit, I am lucky to go to a school that is Gluten Free, Vegan and Vegetarian friendly, but that doesn’t mean the options are endless. I like to say that I am gluten conscious, so my options are even more limited if I take out the burgers, pasta, sandwiches and bagels.

Today’s recipe calls for items from a few stations, but trust me the result is worth the hassle….

I thought I’d make a super simple and cute box to send to a friend or significant other!

I’ve been thinking about this box for a while and actually purchased the “What I Love About Us” book from Urban Outfitters back in October.

This book is an incredibly sweet and small journal containing 50 fill-in-the-blank sentences ranging from “We would make the best _______ team ever” to “I love our _____”. The company (named) Knock Knock also makes several other books/notepads/sticky notes that can be given to friends, parents, roommates, whatever! It’s a really great way to get something small that has a lot of meaning….

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About Me

Hi, I'm Gillian! I am a college student trying to create yummy & fun recipes to stay healthy. If I'm not out running or watching the sunset, I'm baking foods to help fuel my body and satisfy my sweet tooth.